


The Pirate and the Time Traveler

by LilyMaidofAstolat



Series: The Unfortunate Adventures of Cassandra Haversham [1]
Category: Peter Pan & Related Fandoms, Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy - J. M. Barrie
Genre: F/M, Female Protagonist, Heroes to Villains, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Inspired by Novel, Inspired by a Movie, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death Experiences, Neverland, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Pirates, Sassy, Strong Female Characters, Survival, The Jolly Roger, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7738753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyMaidofAstolat/pseuds/LilyMaidofAstolat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassandra Haversham is a time traveler who accidentally finds herself aboard Captain Hook's Ship in Neverland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out of the Blue

The day the girl fell from the sky, the weather was calm and clear, the wind barely ruffling the sails of the brig moored in the blue waters just off the coast of Neverland.  
Seeing the sky occupied with an assorted collection of children was a fairly common occurrence, but this was very different. To begin with, the girl was a good deal older than the band of little miscreants which Peter Pan collected around him. Secondly, she materialised from thin air about ten feet above the deck of the ship, hovering there for a few seconds before plummeting down with a shriek.

The shriek, and the thud of her landing on the deck, immediately dragged the crew’s attention away from what they had been doing, prompting them to turn in her direction.  
Seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, the girl lay there for about a minute; her eyes wide open, staring upwards. ‘Ouuuuuch,’ she breathed rubbing her back, ‘well, that was a bad one.’

They were all still frozen in place when there was another thud, this time from inside the captain’s cabin, followed by the sound of a male voice swearing loudly. The cabin door burst open with a resounding crash, and out stalked Captain James Hook: the pirate so terrible that even Barbeque feared him; the hook he had in place of a hand glinting evilly in the sunlight, a pistol brandished in the other.  
‘Will someone kindly inform me what in the blazes is happening out here,’ he barked angrily. ‘Is the blasted boy back?’ He spat out the word boy with intense loathing.  
It was at this moment, that the girl chose to spring to her feet.

‘Well,’ she commented wryly to no one in particular, dusting herself off, ‘that’s going to hurt in the morning.’  
She ignored the colourful cast of characters arrayed before her, chief amongst them, the glowering pirate captain; and turned slowly around on one heel.  
‘Looks late 18th century. Possibly the Carribbean. But…’ She used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun and stared out over the water towards the island, ‘the sea looks weird, sky looks weird and island… what a surprise, also weird. Warrants further closer inspection.’  
Finally seeming to catch onto the fact that she was being observed by collection of heavily armed men, she flashed them all a dazzling smile and rummaged around in the bag slung over her shoulder. 

She pulled out a note card and began to read, making corresponding hand gestures as she did so.  
‘Greetings, one and all. I come in peace.  
For your own safety and mine, pleased do not: try to burn me as a witch, sacrifice me to the ancient gods to prevent a coming apocalypse or eat me – I promise I taste awful.  
If you have any myths/legends/tales, of a god/celestial being/chosen one, then no, I am not she, so please do not try to offer me your kingdom/first born child/worldly possessions/favourite cow.  
I have come here on official business and will be on my way once it is completed.  
Thank you for your attention.’  
She shoved the card back into her bag and stood there looking at them expectantly, arms crossed in front of her.  
‘Well,’ she said, ‘can the rest of you talk or is this some kind of colony for the speech impaired. In which case, I know ten different forms of sign language.’

The captain, who had been staring at her until now, with an expression which was half confusion, half irritation, strode forward until he was standing right in front of her.  
‘Who are you? he growled, ‘did Pan send you?’  
The girl was not exceptionally tall, so Hook towered over her. The girl had to crane her neck to look at him properly, but otherwise she did not appear to be in the least bit intimidated. ‘The name,’ she said, ‘Is Cassandra Eloise Haversham. I’m a time traveller. Time agent, actually, if you want to get into the specifics.’ She held her hands out in a rather placating manner, look, I know this is probably a new and strange experience and you might be feeling a bit intimidated and out of your depth but…’  
He cut her off, ‘do not try to toy with me – girl. I will give you one last chance to tell me who you really are, and why Pan sent you, before I cut out your heart and feed it to the sharks.’

She waved her hands at him, ignoring the first part of his sentence, ‘wait. What? Did you say, Pan? As in Peter Pan. As in the magical flying boy who never wants to grow up and all that jazz.’  
The captain gave her an exasperated look, ‘yes. As you very well know, considering he sent you here as some kind of spy or saboteur.’  
‘But,’ Cassandra said, in the voice of one attempting to work out an extremely complicated mathematical equation, ‘Peter Pan is a story. A fairy tale for children. I’m afraid it isn’t real. ’  
She smiled suddenly, like something was finally dawning on her, ‘ohhhh, I get it. You lot must be doing some kind of really elaborate cosplay. I must say, the costumes are almost spot on. But..’ gesturing at Hook, ‘yours is probably a tiny bit over the top for actual historical accuracy. I mean, it’s a bit too Pirates of the Caribbean don’t you think.’  
He gave her an extremely angry look, ‘you are sorely trying my patience wench. Tell me where the boy is and who you are. Now!’

Cassandra planted her hands firmly on her hips and gave him a rather chilling look.  
‘Alright, that’s it. I’ve tried to be polite, as specified under clause 3.27 of my employment contract. So you can jolly well take a step back, mister, and stop yelling at me. Firstly, you can stop being so damned rude. Secondly, I haven’t the foggiest where the ‘boy’ is. Thirdly, are you actually deaf, or are you just stupid because I distinctly recall telling you, quite clearly I might add, who I am only about sixty seconds ago. Fourthly, Do Not, ever call me wench again if you want to get out of this with all your fingers attached!’

The crew stared at her, with almost terrified expressions in their eyes, waiting for the notoriously short-tempered captain to strike her down. But, instead he just chuckled, and sweeping off his hat with an elaborate flourish, gave her a low almost exaggeratedly polite bow.  
‘Madam, I see I have been remiss in not according you the proper courtesies. I am James Hook, Captain of the Jolly Roger, currently making port off the coast of Neverland.’  
As he said this, he looked her up and down with a practiced eye,  
She was rather a fetching little thing if you got past all the sparks and hostility. She was medium height, with a head of red curls and a reasonably pretty face, made prettier by the fact that she was the first woman he had set eyes on in quite some time. She was dressed strangely, in a brown jacket with lots of buckles and a brown skirt which was shockingly short, ending just below the knee, and showing off quite a lot of leg. On her feet were a pair of tall, sturdy looking black leather boots, which buckled up past the hem of her skirt. She also had a rather heavy looking brown bag slung over one shoulder and a curious device attached to her left wrist.’  
‘I am sure you must have had a long journey,’ he continued, ‘would you care to join me in my cabin for some refreshment.’

She gave him a rather sardonic smile, ‘said the spider to the fly.’  
‘I beg your pardon?’  
‘Never mind. Sure, why not. As long as you can provide a bucket of tea for me to drown myself in.’

He held the door open for her with a bow, she raised one eyebrow, but stepped inside anyway.  
Once she was safely inside, he turned and barked out, ‘Smee, fetch some refreshments for our guest.’  
A small man with white hair and spectacles hurried away muttering something along the lines of ‘aye aye, captain. Right away.’  
The Captain smiled, and it was not a nice one: cunning and predatory, before letting his face slip back into one of polite cordiality as he entered the cabin.


	2. Manly Charms

The door swung open with a click, narrowly missing the edge of his coat.  
The girl: Cassandra, was sitting on his favourite chair, beside the big hardwood desk, flicking through the ship’s log. She glanced up for a moment when he came in, but otherwise ignored him and continued reading.

He stared at her in rather baffled silence. Usually, when he ‘invited’ people to his cabin, they behaved with a little more trepidation, either acting with exaggerated confidence to conceal their fear, or just downright begging for their lives. This strange woman was just sitting there, looking quite at home, ignoring him!

Suddenly, Cassandra closed the book with a snap and rose to her feet, unslinging the bag from her shoulder and dumping it on the ground as she did so.  
She began to pace slowly around the cabin, every so often pausing to pick things up, or poke at the furniture, muttering odd phrases under her breath as she examined them.  
Eventually, she came to a stop just in front of the pirate captain, who was standing in the middle of the room, arms folded, staring at her.

She stared back, and then leaned over and poked him lightly in the chest.  
‘Well,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘you’re clearly not a hologram, so we can cross that hypothesis off the list. Could still be some sort of cyborg though, this might be an amusement park from the future.’

‘You speak very strangely,’ Hook said, still staring, ‘half of what you say sounds like words, yet I can discover no meaning in them.’

‘Yeah,’ she replied, ‘that’s what happens when your day job is hopping through different historical eras. Great life experience, but it does rather mess up the old vocab, and just about everything else to be perfectly honest. I originally hale from late 15th century Ireland, but I got recruited by the agency when I was seventeen, haven’t been back since, almost lost my accent. Been living mostly, when I’m not travelling that is, in 21st century Great Britain. They really do have the best TV shows, and you can get chips with cheese on them.’

She turned around and walked back to the desk, picking up the ship’s log again.   
‘Wherever or wherever this place is, it looks like you’ve been here a jolly long time,’ she said, waving the log book in his direction. ‘Skim reading this, I counted over 20 years of entries in here, and the front page says that this is volume five. As for where here actually is, I have about four current working theories,’ she counted off on her fingers, ‘one, I could be dreaming, however, I doubt I really doubt I would have dreamed the way some of the men out there smelled. Two this has all been elaborately staged for some unknown purpose and, you and all your crew are, knowingly or unknowingly, playing set roles. Three, this really is the physical manifestation of a fairy tale, in which case, golly gosh, I can’t wait to meet Mary Poppins. Fourthly, and in my humble opinion, most likely: this is some kind of parallel or pocket universe, the existence of which, Mr Barrie apparently somehow knew about. Don’t know whether it’s a natural occurring phenomenon or if someone has intentionally created this place.’  
Cassandra had barely paused to take breath throughout the whole of this speech, and therefore fell silent as she got her breath back.

Hook shrugged, ‘as near as I can count, myself and my crew have been trapped in this accursed place for nearly two hundred years. I have no way of being entirely sure however, sometimes the days and nights start to blur together. The weather is unpredictable and the seasons do not seem to work in the normal way.’ He gave her a lazy smile, ‘but quite enough about my rather dreary circumstances. Let us instead talk of more, pleasant, things.’ He took a step forward, until they were almost toe to toe and gazed down into her green eyes with his piercing, sky blue ones. ‘We have much in common you and I. We both have the misfortune to lead lonely lives. Both of us could use some… friendly companionship.’ He bent down and gently used his hook to brush back a lock of hair which had slid down over her forehead.

Cassandra put both palms on his chest and shoved him back, hard. Although his reflexes kicked in almost immediately, it had still taken him by surprise, causing him to stumble a little before regaining balance.

‘How dare you, girl,’ he growled, stalking back towards her, the sunlight beaming through the window shining sinisterly off the razor sharp point of his hook.

Cassandra stood her ground, glaring angrily at him. ‘How dare I,’ she said, ‘HOW DARE I. I am not the one who invaded your personal space and made unsavoury advances.’ She shook her head, ‘what did you expect my reaction would be,’ she dramatically placed one hand to her forehead and put on a high girlish voice, ‘oh Captain, you’re ever so tall and handsome. My weak womanly self simply cannot resist your manly charms. Take me, take me now!’ 

Her face dropped back down into one of irritated disgust, ‘do you really think I’m that desperate. Not likely. I’ll have you know I’ve had proposals from princes and emperors. Moctezuma II king of the Aztecs tried to make me his chief wife, Napoleon Bonaparte sent me flowers, Julius Caesar, wanted me to elope with him. I said no to all of them, so what makes you think I’d suddenly fall into your arms! Besides, I met you like five minutes ago and that’s moving waaaay too fast you pervert.’

They stood there, glaring at each other, but before either could make the next move, there was a rap on the door, and Mr Smee entered bearing a large tray. He took one scared look at the Captain’s face before dumping the tray on a small table and bolting.

The Captain’s expression gradually relaxed back into one of cordial indifference. ‘Forgive me madam, he said, ‘I rather overstepped the mark and acted in an exceedingly ungentlemanly manner. I pray you would be so good as to overlook my transgressions and join me for some refreshments.’

Grudgingly, Cassandra nodded her head. Hook pulled out a chair for her, and after a moment’s consideration she sat down.   
‘Let’s get this straight. I don’t trust you,’ she said looking him square in the eye, ‘not one little bit. For one thing, you’re a pirate, and members of that profession are not generally renowned as the most honourable of folk. So, I just want to make this quite clear: if you try to touch me without my consent, you will find that I am more than capable of protecting myself, and will not be held responsible for any consequences you might face.’

She smiled sweetly, ‘now be a dear and pour yourself a cup of tea so I can make sure you aren’t planning to roofie me.’  
Hook watched her closely, as she proceeded to gulp down almost the entire pot of tea, and put away quite a sizeable amount of food for a woman her size. 

He smiled to himself, this one was going to be a challenge that much was obvious, but never let it be said that Captain James Hook was not ready and able to face any challenge thrown at him. It might take time, he thought, but he would have her eventually.


	3. Faith Trust & Pixie Dust

Cassandra drained her final cup of tea before turning the cup upside down and examining the bottom. ‘Royal Worcester,’ she said, ‘classy. I know some people who would kill for this tea set.’  
Hook grinned, ‘I did.’  
Cassandra raised an eyebrow and carefully put the cup back down, ‘yes, well I did rather have a sneaking suspicion you didn’t actually pay money for it.’

She fell silent, staring at him with narrowed eyes, an unreadable expression on her face.  
He gave her an amused look, ‘Is what you fix your eyes upon so intently a pleasant aspect, madam?’ he inquired with a carefully bland smile.

Cassandra gave a small start, as if she had just been awoken from a trance.  
‘I was just thinking how ironic this all really is,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘When I got recruited, they had to teach me how to read, and write too. Back home, the only people who knew how to read were the sons of the aristocracy and some of the rich merchant class - I was a peasant and a girl to boot. The first book I ever read by myself was Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie, and here I am, actually in Neverland taking tea with the infamous Captain Hook.’ She smiled, ‘I must say, he got you pretty spot on, at least when it comes to physical description, ‘his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles… His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy… In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of Charles II…’ goes on for paragraphs.’

Hook looked a little offended, ‘I most decidedly,’ he said, ‘do not ape anyone. My attire that what befits a gentleman and a pirate. My appearance is half my reputation.’

‘I’m just wondering,’ said Cassandra thoughtfully, ‘if everything else around here is as accurate to the book? Michael, John and Wendy: were they a thing? What about the Indians, and the lost boys?’

Hook shrugged, ‘the devil child has so many evil little miscreants following him around, I cannot keep track of their names. I do however seem to recall he had a girl here at one point, but no longer. As for the Indians, they most assuredly exist, a band of bloodthirsty savages every civilised man would do well to avoid.’

‘You can’t say savages,’ Cassandra said, ‘that’s ethnocentric, it’s not okay to judge other cultures based on your own. They need to be judged for their own merit.’  
He frowned, ‘What in the blazes are you talking about?’  
Cassandra laughed, ‘majored in Cultural Anthropology at university, it has a habit of rising to the surface. Anyway, what else is out there, I make it my business to know as much as possible before diving in. Are there mermaids, wild beasts,’ she paused, ‘the crocodile?’

He snarled, slamming his hook down onto the table where it stuck fast in the wood  
‘Pray, do not mention that thrice accursed creature in my presence again,’ he ground out, ‘ever since the demon acquired a taste for my flesh, it has been stalking me, day and night without rest. Waiting for its chance to devour the rest of me. It’s probably out there as we speak, lurking in the depths. The infernal ticking driving me insane’  
He pulled the hook out with a grunt, the wood splintering around it.

‘Wow,’ Cassandra said, ‘sounds like that’s a bit of a sore subject. Can’t say I really blame you.’ Her brow furrowed, ‘so the kid really did cut off your hand then?’  
‘Yes,’ Hook said bitterly, ‘and when his day of judgment arrives I shall use this hook to rip out his lungs.’

‘That’s not really normal behaviour for a child,’ Cassandra said, ‘I never really thought about it before, but that’s kind of a terrible thing to do.’

She picked up another sandwich, devouring it in one bite, before dusting off the crumbs and standing up. It was her general policy to eat as much as possible when it was offered in a new place, you never knew when your luck might change, and she only had limited emergency rations.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘this was lovely, I do enjoy a good tea party. Thanks for the hospitality and the information, hope you get your revenge and all that, but now I really must dash, I have a job to do.’  
She walked over and picked up her bag.  
‘Time to go meet the natives.  
\---  
Out on deck, the weather was still fine, although a brisk salty wind had begun to blow in from the sea.

Cassandra leaned over the railing, the breeze rustling her hair, looking out towards the island which loomed up in the distance.  
From what she could see, it was a fairly large island, most of it covered in dense forest. A couple of smallish mountains protruded from the tree line. She could also just make out a couple of what looked to be man-made structures in some of the less thickly forested portions. ‘Doesn’t look too far,’ she mused, ‘and the tide’s coming in, so at least I won’t have to fight the current all the way to shore.’

She turned around, hands shoved into the front pockets of her jacket. ‘What can you tell me about the island itself? Anything I need to look out for in particular?’  
He remained silent, watching her.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, ‘oh well, guess I’ll find out on my own. Let’s hope I don’t fall into a swamp in the process.’  
Finally, he spoke, ‘I am dreadfully afraid, my dear, that unless you are planning on sprouting wings and flying, you won’t be leaving.’  
‘Is that so? And, who’s going to stop me? You.’

He smiled, that dangerous predatory smile she had glimpsed earlier, ‘not at all,’ he said smoothly, ‘I simply have no intention of providing you with a vessel with which to convey yourself to shore. What I will do however is assure you that you will be made most comfortable aboard my ship.’ He sauntered closer, ‘perhaps we could even come to some kind of mutually beneficial arrangement,’ he flashed her a roguish look and leaned forward, ‘you might even enjoy yourself.’

Cassandra snorted, ‘you really have no idea when it’s time to admit defeat do you. And here I was, beginning to rethink my first impression of you, but apparently it was entirely correct; you’re really quite pathetic. Did you not get the message earlier? I’ll repeat it one more time for the convenience of your clearly incapacitated intellect. I have no intention of being seduced, or whatever the heck this is, by you. Try to lay a finger on me and I’ll maim you. How much fun do you think it’s going to be trying to cope without the use of your other hand?’ She gave him an evil smile, ‘and as for flying, isn’t all it takes a little bit of faith, trust and pixie dust.’

She rummaged around in her bag, pulling out a small canister and what appeared to be a handful of black sticks.  
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I, like the boy scouts, always come prepared. You, might want to take a step back.’  
She threw the canister down on the deck, where it bounced once before splitting open with a bang, the contents puffing out and inflating with a loud hiss up into a small boat.  
The crew looked on in fearful astonishment, ‘sorcery,’ one of them gasped in a horrified voice. ‘Nope,’ Cassandra said cheerfully, as she fitted the sticks together to form a pair of paddles, ‘just a little bit of helpful technology I borrowed from the future.’

She picked up the end of the piece of cord attached to the boat and tied it to her wrist. Dragging the boat to the railing, she shoved it over the side. With the paddles tucked under her arm, she swung her leg over the railing and began to climb down the rope ladder attached to the side of the ship.

Captain Hook, who had, until now, been watching events with almost as much astonishment as his crew, moved forward as if to come after her. She flashed him a smug smile, ‘Captain, I bid you my leave. Dreadfully afraid I shall have to turn down your kind offer because, as you see, it turns out I am leaving after all.’   
She gave him a mocking salute before quickly clambering down the ladder out of sight.

Hook stood at the side, watching the small boat bob along in the water, heading steadily towards shore with the tide.  
Smee nervously materialised at his side. ‘Any orders Captain? Should I order the boats to be sent out in pursuit?’  
The captain dragged his hook along the rail, leaving a deep gouge in the polished wood. Smee’s hands were shaking as he took a step back. He knew from unfortunate experience that the captain was never so dangerous as when, instead of raging, he maintained a façade of calm.

Hook whirled on one heel, the red velvet of his coat fluttering behind him.  
‘No,’ he said a grim smile on his face, ‘I think we shall leave Miss Haversham to face the dangers of the island alone. If she survives, I’ll wager it will not take her long to come crawling back here, begging for my protection.’

He stalked back to his cabin, shutting the door hard behind him. Only then, could the crew and Mr Smee breathe easy. It wasn’t unusual, for Captain Hook, when crossed to take out his anger on the nearest available person. Many of the crew had scars to prove it, and many more were too dead to prove anything.

In his cabin, Hook paced backwards and forwards. Never before had anyone defied him as this little slip of a girl had, and he meant to make her pay for her insolence. He rather hoped that she wouldn’t be devoured by some wild beast, he would relish the chance to break her.

Meanwhile, out on the water, Cassandra was nearing the island. It was lucky, she thought that the beach she was being propelled towards was sandy and relatively safe in appearance, rather than surrounded by jagged rocks. The tide was still rolling in strong, so she did not have to expend much energy rowing. She gave Captain Hook one last consideration. On the whole, she thought, it was probably best never to meet one’s childhood heroes, it wasn’t entirely pleasant when they turned out to be wildly overgrown egos who kept trying to make indecent proposals. 

She felt the bottom of the boat scrape the sand, and then thought of nothing else but what was before her.


	4. I Come in Peace

The portions of the island visible from Cassandra’s landing place were stunningly beautiful. She had come to shore in a natural harbour, protected somewhat from the open sea.  
As she waded through the last few inches of water, pulling the boat behind her, she gazed around the beach; it looked as if it had been torn straight out of a travel catalogue.  
The sand was white, very soft and fine, almost like powdered sugar. The sea, which lapped up in little waves over the shore was a deep, vibrant turquoise, like nothing she had encountered before. 

Palm trees dotted along the dunes, their sweeping green fronds fluttering in the slight breeze.  
The beach slopped slightly upwards, bordered as far as the eye could see by dense foliage. Rushing out from a gap in the trees was a large creek, which widened, eventually flowing out into the ocean, fresh water mingling with salty.

Cassandra had been knocking about through space and time for quite a while now, and was no stranger to exotic locales and spectacular views. But this place, this place was something special and it took her breath away. There was nothing she wanted to do more than park a deck chair next to a palm tree and spend the entire day enjoying the sun – an icy beverage in one hand and an excellent novel in the other.

She shook her head sadly, alas, it was not to be. She was on the job after all, so work first, vacation later. Also, while her bag was surprisingly spacious, it still wouldn’t stretch to fitting a deck chair and a slushy machine.

She turned to take one last look at the bay. She could see the Jolly Roger, still moored there, the wind billowing the sails and fluttering the black flag. As far as she could see, no boats had been sent out to pursue her. When she had made her exit, she really had not be sure how Captain James Hook would respond. The man had an ego the size of Canada, and she was pretty sure that not getting his way was not something he was accustomed to. At least he hadn’t sent out the cavalry at this point, it would have been rather inconvenient to have to scamper around unknown territory trying to dodge a horde of angry pirates.

She turned to look inland, towards the group of mountains which could be seen protruding from the forest. The first step, she decided, would be to scale one of them, and from that vantage point, take a good look around for any populated areas. Cassandra was not entirely sure who she was looking for. It was one of those annoying assignments where an alert comes in and you just get blasted off into time looking for the source. All new time agents recruited by the agency had a chip implanted in their skulls. The chips had two primary functions: one, they worked as a translation system, allowing for comprehension and fluency in almost every existing language. Two, in the event that someone went rogue and absconded with company technology, the chip would create a signal which could be tracked and followed by any agent assigned to the case. The tracking device attached to her wrist would alert her when she had discovered the rogue agent; unfortunately, however it only activated in a very close proximity, meaning, oh joy of joys, she would have to traipse over the entire place scanning for her prey.

Cassandra dragged the boat up the beach, her boots sinking into the sand as she went. She brought it just inside the tree line, where she tied it to the trunk of a palm tree and concealed it beneath some fallen fronds. She had some spares in her satchel, but it never hurt to have an emergency escape plan that no one else was aware of and that would still be available if one’s possessions were thrown into a volcano to appease an angry god.

Satisfied with the concealment of her vessel, Cassandra began her trek towards the mountain, following the path of the creek. Inside the forest, the foliage was very thick, the canopy obscuring most of the sky, leaving the forest floor dark and shadowy. It certainly was not as pleasant as the beach, in fact it had a rather sinister air about it, and she could quite easily believe that there might be unimaginable horrors lurking behind every tree. Even the creek took on a more ominous aspect, becoming very wide and murky. At one point, she could have sworn she saw something large flash past, just under the surface of the water. 

She pressed onwards, the trees leaning closer together and apparently growing spikier the nearer she reached the mountain. She was forced to move slightly away from the course of the creek, the banks had become steep and slippery, and the trees pressed too closely to the edge. After several hours of clambering over fallen trunks and dragging herself through thickets which grabbed at her hair and scratched her face, she arrived, rather dishevelled at the base of one of the mountains. The others in the range looked too tall and precipitous to tackle without equipment, but this one looked more manageable. She wouldn’t be able to get a complete 360 degree view of the island, but at least she would be able to see more than her current position allowed. Closer to the base, its slopes were covered in foliage, becoming sparser as the altitude increased, leaving the summit mostly bare.

She looked up at it and gave a small groan. Manageable was in this case a relative term, the mountain was still very tall and quite steep as well. To top it all off, she had a persistent, dull ache in her lower back, courtesy of her rather bumpy landing. She considered making camp, and attempting it in the morning, but decided against it as the sun was still high, and it would really only be delaying the inevitable.

‘Cheer up old thing,’ she told herself, ‘at least this isn’t nearly as bad as the time you almost fell into Mount Vesuvius, or the time when you accidentally insulted Alexander the Great and had to book it while the entire Macedonian army hurled spears at you.’

She took a swig from the water bottle she had stashed in her bag, and then rather grudgingly began her ascent.  
It took another two and a half hours to reach the summit. By the time she got there, she was perspiring, and her hair had frizzed up from the heat. She had removed the jacket, which was now tied low around her hips. She plopped herself down on a convenient boulder and downed some more water. It wasn’t that she wasn’t physically fit, it was just that it had been one steep mountain. She’d almost toppled into a crevice at one point. She pulled a piece of cloth out of her bag and used it to dab the sweat off her face and neck.  
At least, her earlier assumption had been correct, and that the top did indeed afford her a splendid view of most of the island. Large portions of it were covered in the same kind of forest she had spent most of the morning clawing her way through. To her right, she could see a lagoon, and a bit further on, a rocky, oddly shaped island. To the left was more forest, but different, less tropical trees, in fact, it looked like a Pine forest. And, most interesting in her opinion, was what looked to be another, smaller island, joined to the larger one by a small spit of land. On it, she could see some kind of settlement, which must have been the one she glimpsed from the Jolly Roger. If anywhere was a logical next step, it was there.

By the time she made it down the mountain – it had been slow going, because the steep descent and loose gravel made footing treacherous, night was starting to fall.   
It was obvious she would never make it to the settlement before it got dark. It was at least a day’s walk away, maybe more.   
Cassandra looked askance at the gloomy forest. There was no way she was sticking around down here to find out what kind of creatures came out at night. During the travels of the day, she hadn’t encountered much wildlife, but she had caught glimpses of shadowy shapes, and seen other signs that she wasn’t alone amongst the trees.  
As dusk gathered around her, she climbed a tree. It was tall, with a thick trunk, and just enough branches to allow her to get up quite far. She settled herself into a place where two branches met, and using a piece of rope she always carried with her, she secured herself to the branch. She wrapped a piece of waterproof sheeting around herself and closed her eyes.

Sleep did not come easily that night, she dozed fitfully, all too alert to the rustles and peculiar sounds originating from below and around her. She only hoped, that whatever was down there hadn’t discovered the knack of climbing trees.

She must have fallen into a relatively deep sleep at some point just before dawn however, because she was awoken sometime later by the rays of sun which slanted down through the leaves overhead. Groggily, Cassandra rubbed the sleep from her eyes. With clumsy fingers she untied the knot from around her waist and half climbed, half fell out of the tree. She lost her balance on the last branch, bruising her knees as she landed with a thump. Groaning, she struggled to her feet and leaned against the trunk of the tree. She was stiff, and sore, her back felt like it had been kicked by a horse and her legs still felt cramped from hours spent in a less than comfortable position.

Too many weeks off the job, lying on the couch eating cheese fries and watching Suits had clearly made her go a bit soft.   
Cassandra ate some emergency rations, then deciding it was best to be on her way as swiftly as possible, seeing as how she had no desire to spend another night in a tree, shrugged her bag back over her shoulder and headed off in the direction of the settlement she had spotted the day before. As she wove her way through the trees, Captain Hook’s words about blood-thirsty Indians echoed in her ears. 

Late afternoon was fading into evening when she finally reached the strip of land which connected the two islands together. She had traveled the entire day, pausing only briefly to re hydrate at intervals. The landscape she had trekked through had been varied to say the least, through forests and valleys, over hills and under cliffs, as well as through one particularly memorable swamp, traces of which still clung to her attire.  
Some of the flora and fauna had been recognisable, but much of it was strange and new, unidentifiable as anything found in botanical volumes of academia. This place was unnatural and more than a little unsettling.

From a closer vantage point, Cassandra could see that the settlement consisted of several small groups of wooden structures, arranged in circles.  
It was obviously habituated, with people of various descriptions, visible in the distance. She slipped behind a tree, and considered her options. Trying to sneak up was clearly a bad idea, there was zero chance she wouldn’t be spotted by the sentries at the other end of the land-bridge. On the other hand, if she simply waltzed up, they might still perceive her as a threat. She liked being alive and having all her limbs, so wasn’t in a hurry to take any chances. White flag was always an option, but she had no way of knowing how they would react, while many people recognise a white flag as a sign of peaceful approach, to other cultures it might mean, ‘I am armed and extremely dangerous,’ or ‘I would like to feast on your children.’ Heck, she wasn’t even one hundred percent sure that the translation device would even function properly. Neverland was not supposed to exist, so there was a chance it would not be able to pick up whatever language the natives spoke.

In the end, she decided to go for the most direct approach. Walk forward slowly with your hands in the air, loudly proclaiming ‘I come in peace, take me to your leader,’ while still being ready to turn tail and bolt at the first sign of war paint and poisoned arrows.

The sentries made no attempt to approach her, they stood there, arms crossed, watching her as she walked slowly towards her.  
She could see that behind them, a small crowd had gathered. They all stood there in silence observing her progress.

She came to a halt a few feet in front of the sentries, hands still in the air.  
‘Hello,’ she said carefully, ‘I come in peace.’

One of the sentries, a tall man with caramel coloured skin and a shock of thick black hair raised one eyebrow, ‘we heard you the first seventeen times,’ he said in perfect English.


	5. The Girl Who Falls Through Time

Cassandra froze, hands still raised above her head, ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘I seem to have committed the error of approaching your culture with a set of preconceived biases. However you can hardly blame me, after all there was that one time with the human sacrifices and all the flaying knives and the screaming and running, and they all looked so perfectly genial to begin with.’

The man gave her the kind of blank stare which would have made a statue proud.  
‘Since you clearly speak English, and very skilfully I might add, you obviously heard the other bit about being taken to your leader? Well, it would be very helpful if you could possibly manage it. I certainly would understand your reluctance to let a…’  
‘How have you come here?’ the man interrupted abruptly.

‘To be honest, I didn’t particularly relish the idea of spending another night perched in a tree. I saw your charming village while doing a spot of mountaineering yesterday, and I just thought, why not pop over for a little visit. Sooo, then I sort of walked here.’

He shook his head firmly, ‘no, how come you to be here, on this island? You are much too old to belong to the boy, for above all he despises the grown. Your clothing, though strange has not suffered through shipwreck. If   
your vessel survived whole, where then is the crew?’

‘Shipwreck… vessel,’ Cassandra muttered, ‘he never mentioned… makes sense… temporal rift… hypothetically, whole ship… sucked through…’  
The man coughed, snapping Cassandra’s attention back. ‘Sorry,’ she said, making an apologetic face, ‘I was thinking out loud again, wasn’t I. As for how I got here, that,’ said Cassandra, flashing him a brilliant smile, as she ever so slowly lowered her hands, ‘is really a rather long story.’

The man stared at her in silence for several minutes, apparently considering her words. Finally, he spoke, ‘I have decided to conduct you to the king. He will hear your story, and with his infinite wisdom judge what should become of you. I will do you the courtesy of not searching you for weapons, but should you attempt to use one... we will stop you.’

Dragging her satchel more securely over one shoulder, Cassandra shrugged, ‘understood, considering you’re the ones with the big pointy spears, I think I’ll probably just smile and follow you.’

The small crowd parted wordlessly to allow them passage. As they passed through, Cassandra glanced around her. Despite what Mr Barrie and the pirates seemed to think, these people were most certainly not Indians, at least, not the majority. There were at least five different distinguishable ethnicities represented, probably more. Cassandra filed this piece of rather interesting information into the review when one is sure they are out of immediate danger, compartment of her brain.  
Just as silently, the crowd closed ranks behind them, turning to stare as the sentry led the way towards the centre of the settlement.

The King’s house was larger than those surrounding it, but otherwise, possessed no outward signs of prestige or ostentation. It was constructed simply from beams of hewn oak, with two large, un-embellished doors propped wide open, seemingly inviting entry.  
Inside, a small entry-room led into a larger one, sparsely furnished, with undecorated walls and only a few pieces of wooden furniture situated about the room. At the far end, Cassandra could see a man, seated on a bench in front of a low table, partaking of some kind of meal. It was towards this person that her guide led her. As they drew closer, Cassandra surreptitiously glanced around the room. Throughout the course of her career, she had seen the inside of many a throne-room, but none as unassuming as this. Whoever this king was, he looked like a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who managed to gain and hold such a position without surrounding himself with overt displays of his power and grandeur, clearly had other things going for him.

The sentry came to an abrupt halt a few paces from the other man, and motioned with his hand for Cassandra to do likewise.   
The man looked up from his plate, ‘Raathan,’ he said with a smile, ‘I see you have brought a visitor.’

Raathan gave a slight bow, deep enough to signal deference, but not so deep as to suggest an attempt at ingratiation. ‘I bring this woman to you king. She came over the land bridge mere minutes ago, on foot, requesting audience with our leader.’ The man he had addressed as king smiled, ‘thank you Raathan,’ he said in a low melodious voice as he turned his head to scrutinise Cassandra. He was of rather indiscriminate age, possibly being situated anywhere in the region of thirty-five to sixty. He had a dark lined face, and extremely lively eyes. His hair was mostly crow black, with a few hints of grey.

As he continued to stare at Cassandra, his eyes focused on hers, narrowing, and his expression becoming more guarded.   
Abruptly, he shifted his focus back onto Raathan, ‘you have my thanks for bringing this young woman to me my friend,’ he said, ‘but I would now ask that you return to your post. Your watchful eye is a valuable asset to us all.’

Raathan flashed him a questioning look, the king looked back, shaking his head infinitesimally. Raathan nodded, and turned on his heel to leave.  
‘I wonder if you would close the door on your way out,’ the king said, ‘I fancy detect a slight chill forming in the air.’  
When the doors had been fastened, and they were left alone, facing each other, the king shifted on his chair, steepling his fingers in front of his face, and turned his full attention towards her.

‘What do you call yourself, girl who falls through time? He asked.

Cassandra stared at him, ‘tell me how you come to that hypothesis and I might consider telling you my name.’

The king smiled, ‘It is in your eyes. Your face may not bear the mark of the years you carry, but the eyes on the other hand never lie. Yours’ betray your true age, an age, I might add, you could not have reached by any natural means.’

Cassandra cracked a smile, ‘give the man a prize. My name, well, as close as anyone will ever get to it, is Cassandra Eloise Haversham… You know, not many people’s first guess is time traveller. It’s usually foreigner, or witch. You have absolutely no idea how many times people have tried to burn me at the stake. It’s a very real occupational hazard they really need to start warning recruits about at orientation.’

‘The concept of moving through time is not so strange to us,’ the king said, ‘most of us were not born here. The majority of us were traders and sailors, a few colonists. Over the years, a few at a time have found their way here, in a similar manner, from many places and ages. I was one of the first. There was a great storm, my ship was wrecked many, many miles from any shore. One moment I was struggling to keep my head above water in a dark and stormy ocean, the next I was being swept up onto an unfamiliar beach in calm waters, with the sun blazing down on my skin.’

Cassandra nodded knowingly, ‘ah, as I wondered, a temporal rift. Right out in the middle of the ocean, possibly even located below the surface. I don’t think,’ she said, after a moment’s pause, ‘that this place is located on any known map. At a guess, based on unfamiliar positioning of stars and constellations I would say it may not even be of this world.’ 

‘And you, tell me, how did you find your way here?’ the king asked.

‘As I told the other one, Raathan, I think you said his name was, it’s rather a long story, but I’ll try to shave it down for easier consumption. I work for a… group of people who were one of the first, well, first humans anyway, to develop the technology making directed time travel possible. Recruits like myself are sent out through time to observe and report on historical events, gather certain artefacts, clean up damages done by unlicensed time travel, and occasionally, which is in fact why I am here, track down former employees who are in serious violation of their contracts and/or have purloined company technology. This thing,’ she said, lightly tapping the device attached to her wrist, ‘is a vortex manipulator, the thing which allows me to travel without an actual time machine. Those things tend to stand out a bit more, especially when the chameleon circuits play up. We, unlike others I might mention, try to keep a low profile. Anyway, as well as time travel, this thing can also pick up on a signal sent out by a tracking chip activated when an agent goes rogue. That signal somehow led me to this island.’

The king, who had been listening with an expression of interested concentration, clasped his hands together in his lap and cleared his throat before speaking, ‘and do you believe that the individual which you seek has made their home here, in our village?’

‘Not with any degree of certainty. I mainly headed in this direction in search of shelter. Necessity forced me to sleep in a tree last night. A thoroughly unpleasant experience which left me with awful back cramp. There were also,’ she said with a shudder, ‘some rather unfriendly sounding noises issuing from the forest floor after nightfall.’

The king nodded, ‘you were wise not to remain down in the forest after dusk. There are many creatures native to this island, many of which are dangerous.’  
In one surprisingly fluid motion, he rose to his feet. Hurriedly, Cassandra followed suit.  
‘You are most welcome to pass the night within the village,’ the king said, ‘you are neither a danger to myself or my people and I would not turn a solitary traveller out into the dark and danger of the night.’

Cassandra flashed him a beaming smile, ‘It is with my most heartfelt gratitude that I accept your generous hospitality your majesty. I appreciate the opportunity to sleep in a fully horizontal position.’

‘One more thing. This person you seek, how will you know when you have located them?’

Cassandra waved her wrist at him, ‘this will start making a high pitched beeping sound. Only activates in rather close proximity unfortunately.’

‘I will gather everyone in the square for you to examine. If this person walks among us I wish to know. It is not my intent to harbour thieves and traitors.’

An hour later, Cassandra turned away from the last person, shaking her head. ‘You’re all clean,’ she said to the king, ‘are you sure this is absolutely everyone.’  
He nodded his head in affirmation, ‘every man, woman and child, from the oldest, down to the youngest.’

Cassandra ran a hand through her hair, ‘are there any more populated areas on the island?’ she asked.

‘Aside from this village, the only other human inhabitants are the pirates which skulk in the cove… and the boy.’ 

‘The pirates… well, let us just say that we have made each other’s acquaintance, but the boy, you don’t mean… Peter Pan do you?’

He gave her a long hard look. ‘You are correct, the boy calls himself the Pan. At last I knew, he and his band of boys had made a camp many hours east of here, beneath the trunk of a great tree. We do not often venture far from the village, and for good reason. Here we have defences, the bridge across the sea gives us an advantage over attackers. In the past, the pirates tried several times to lay waste to us and steal our women, but were successfully repelled. Now, they do not bother us, but we dare not venture close to the cove. In other directions, there are countless other dangers. As for the boy… that is a topic which I am unwilling to discuss.’

That night, the king held a feast for the whole village. Cassandra enjoyed herself far more than she thought she would. The food was relatively simple in nature, but entirely palatable. The cultural anthropology major that lived inside her also found the entire thing a very interesting ethnographic study. She rather wished she had had a chance to conduct her doctoral research there.  
Once their initial wariness had worn off, the villagers became far more hospitable.   
Also, no one was trying to kill her and she hadn’t had her drink spiked and ended up dancing on a table top.  
Much later, as Cassandra lay on a camp bed in the king’s daughter’s room, she finally allowed herself to feel some degree of excitement about the whole thing. After all, it wasn’t every day that you found yourself stepping into the pages of a story.

‘What is it like, out in the world?’ Tiger Lilly asked.

Cassandra sat up and stared off in the darkness towards her. ‘How do you mean?’

‘I’ve never known anything other than this island. I was born here. My father and others have spoken of the other place, but after so many years, they have forgotten much. I wish you would tell me what your life is.’

‘Well,’ Cassandra said, ‘apart from the whole time travel thing, my life is really very ordinary. I have a flat. I watch shows, cook some stuff, go shopping, read a lot of books. I like the adventure of travelling, but the constant danger, and having to run away from big scary things that want to eat your face off gets pretty stressful pretty quickly, that’s why we get frequent vacation days.’

There was silence for a moment, ‘what are shows,’ Tiger Lilly asked.

Cassandra sighed, ‘this is going to be a long night.’

Many miles away, Hook stood on the deck of his ship, staring out with hooded eyes, across the waves and towards the shore He had been so certain that the confounded girl would take one look as the island and come running back, asking, nay begging for his protection. But, there had been nary a glimpse of her for more than a day now, and another night was already drifting down over the island. The thought that she may have been consumed by some wild beast before he had had an opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with her irritated the captain to no end. He glared at the island, grinding the point of his hook into the rail, sending wood splintering out in every direction, before stalking back to his cabin and slamming the door. Hook would decide how to deal with this matter in the morning, in the meantime, he would drink, to forget that he was stranded in this accursed place.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I have been working on for a while. I try to post regularly, but I'm also a full time law student so yeeaaaah.  
> I have around 13 chapters finished so far and I will try to post them over the next week or so.


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